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Jon Stewart has issued a formal apology for old jokes of his that mocked transgender people.
During the season two premiere of the comedian-turned-commentator’s Apple TV+ show The Problem with Jon Stewart, the former host of the Daily Show mounted a defense of the transgender community.
Included in that defense was an apology for jokes he made at the expense of transgender people while he hosted The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015.
He called his old jokes ‘sh***y and reductive,’ before saying, ‘Sh***y and reductive jokes are kind of my brand.’
Stewart introduced the subject during his opening monologue of an episode called The War Over Gender, during which he insisted that there are more than two genders and those who identify outside the binary deserve to be recognized in culture and society.
Jon Stewart hosts the Apple TV+ show The Problem with Jon Stewart, which critics have said is more political and less funny than the Daily Show, which made him a household name
On the season 2 premiere of the show, Stewart addressed The War Over Gender and apologized for some of the jokes he made earlier in his career that mocked transgender people
Stewart openly mocked transgender Caitlyn Jenner after she publicly transitioned from being Olympian athlete Bruce Jenner into her new self
As he delivered his monologue, a picture of Stewart during his old gig flashed on the screen, emphasizing the fun he was poking at himself – though he didn’t go so far as to actually play footage of any of his old jokes.
A nearly decade-old Change.org petition cites an example of one such Stewart joke.
During a bit about a scandal involving US Attorneys from the early 2000s, Stewart said:
‘Here’s a general rule of thumb I have: if you don’t know whether you’ve made a particular mistake more or less than 50 times, that’s not really a mistake. At that point, it’s something you do.
‘For instance, how many times have I accidentally picked up a tranny hooker at a truck-stop? I want to say it’s in the 50s, but it could be higher. I guess what I’m saying is I’m nearsighted?’
He also mocked Caitlyn Jenner when she publicly transitioned from living as well-known Olympian and stepfather to the Kardashian siblings Bruce Jenner, into a woman.
‘Caitlyn, when you were a man, we could talk about your athleticism, your business acumen,’ said Stewart in 2015. ‘But now you’re a woman, which means your looks are really the only thing we care about.’
He went on, ‘Wow! Remind her she has an expiration date now!” Stewart said. “You came out at 65, and you’ve got another two years before you become invisible to society. Better make the most of it.’
Flashback to the present, Stewart told the audience, ‘We are in a new dawn of gender and sex complexity, where those who don’t fit into a simple binary are meant to be seen with humanity.’
Stewart went on to primarily target conservatives and ‘traditionalists’ for their belief that there are only two genders, or that youths under the age of 18 should be prohibited from undergoing gender-reassignment procedures.
He padded the show with various experts who supported his position, including one geneticist who told him that ‘sex is not a straight binary.’
Stewart also sat down with Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge (R) to grill her on the state’s position on medical treatments for transgender youths.
Rutledge argued that many of the medical decisions young people with gender dysphoria think they want to make are irreversible and will cause lifelong suffering if they outgrow their perception of themselves at trans.
Stewart called her arguments made up and equated the state’s position on trans-youth medical procedures to denying pediatric cancer patient’s proper medical care.
The host delivered a joke about the recent increase in trans-related legislation occurring across state legislatures.
‘What could justify this unprecedented urgency? Did trans people storm the Capitol? Did they steal classified nuclear intel from the White House and keep it in a humidor in Florida?’
The Daily Show won some 20 Emmys during Stewart’s time as host; his new show has been far less well received by critics
Stewart’s show premiered last year to generally negative reviews from critics who called the effort ‘antiquated and unfunny,’ among other things.
Even publications that were once fans of Stewart’s political humor and general schtick found the show to be tedious.
‘I didn’t laugh once during the two 45-minute episodes screened for review,’ wrote the Washington Post’s Inkoo Kang.
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone wrote, ‘the problem with Jon Stewart is that he hasn’t changed since we last saw him rocking out to Bruce Springsteen in his Daily Show finale, while the world has — both on television and outside of it.’
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